NYC is home to 15 of the 20 most expensive zip codes in the US

New Yorkers are fully aware they live in one of the nation’s priciest housing markets, but at some point the statistics become so exaggerated they are hard to believe.

RENTCafé, a nationwide apartment search website, put together a breakdown of the priciest zip codes in the US for renters, using internal data. While NYC was expected to lead the list, those who compiled the data didn’t expect it to be the entire list.

Fifteen of the 20 priciest zip codes in the country are located in New York City.

The zip code 10036 — home to Hell’s Kitchen, Midtown and the Theater District — leads the list with a $4,720 median rent, and the West Village’s 10014 is the runner-up, with a $4,650 median rent. Other pricey neighborhoods include the Upper East Side, Upper West Side and Financial District.

As expected, San Francisco also appears on the list with three zip codes represented.

There are some considerations to be made regarding the reliability of the report. Only buildings with more than 50 rental units were included. This could overrepresent New York City, because expensive zip codes in cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco often feature smaller buildings. Additionally cities with fewer than 200 listed apartment were excluded due to sample size considerations.

The New York City Comptroller’s 2014 report detailed a housing crisis in New York City as rents continue to increase dramatically. Its data showed that from 2000 to 2012, median apartment rents in New York City rose by 75 percent, compared to 44 percent in the rest of the U.S. In that same period, there was a significant shift in the distribution of affordable apartments, with a loss of around 400,000 apartments renting for less than $1,000.